RRDGRAPH_GRAPH(1)                    rrdtool                   RRDGRAPH_GRAPH(1)

NAME
     rrdgraph_graph - rrdtool graph command reference

SYNOPSIS
     PRINT:vname:format[:strftime|:valstrftime|:valstrfduration]

     GPRINT:vname:format

     COMMENT:text

     VRULE:time#color[:[leg‐
     end][:dashes[=on_s[,off_s[,on_s,off_s]...]][:dash-offset=offset]]]

     HRULE:value#color[:[leg‐
     end][:dashes[=on_s[,off_s[,on_s,off_s]...]][:dash-offset=offset]]]

     LINE[width]:value[#color][:[legend][:STACK][:skip‐
     scale][:dashes[=on_s[,off_s[,on_s,off_s]...]][:dash-offset=offset]]]

     AREA:value[#color][:[legend][:STACK][:skipscale]]

     TICK:vname#rrggbb[aa][:fraction[:legend]]

     SHIFT:vname:offset

     TEXTALIGN:{left|right|justified|center}

     PRINT:vname:CF:format (deprecated)

     GPRINT:vname:CF:format (deprecated)

     STACK:vname#color[:legend] (deprecated)

DESCRIPTION
     These  instructions  allow  you  to  generate your image or report.  If you
     don't use any graph elements, no graph is generated.  Similarly, no  report
     is generated if you don't use print options.

   PRINT
     PRINT:vname:format[:strftime|:valstrftime|:valstrfduration]

     Depending  on  the context, either the value component (no suffix, valstrf‐
     time or valstrfduration) or the time component  (strftime)  of  a  VDEF  is
     printed  using format. It is an error to specify a vname generated by a DEF
     or CDEF.

     Any text in format is printed literally with  one  exception:  The  percent
     character introduces a formatter string. This string can be:

     For printing values:

     %%  just prints a literal '%' character

     %#.#le
         prints  numbers  like  1.2346e+04. The optional integers # denote field
         width and decimal precision.

     %#.#lf
         prints numbers like 12345.6789 (%5.4lf), with optional field width  and
         precision.

     %s  place  this  after %le, %lf or %lg. This will be replaced by the appro‐
         priate SI magnitude unit and  the  value  will  be  scaled  accordingly
         (123456 -> 123.456 k).

     %S  is  similar to %s. It does, however, use a previously defined magnitude
         unit. If there is no such unit yet, it tries to define one  (just  like
         %s)  unless  the  value is zero, in which case the magnitude unit stays
         undefined. Thus, formatter strings using %S and no %s will all use  the
         same magnitude unit except for zero values.

     If  you  PRINT a VDEF value, you can also print the time associated with it
     by appending the string :strftime to the format. Note that RRDtool uses the
     strftime function of your OSs C library. This  means  that  the  conversion
     specifier may vary. Check the manual page if you are uncertain. The follow‐
     ing  is a list of conversion specifiers usually supported across the board.
     Formatting values interpreted as timestamps with :valstrftime is done like‐
     wise.

     %a  The abbreviated weekday name according to the current locale.

     %A  The full weekday name according to the current locale.

     %b  The abbreviated month name according to the current locale.

     %B  The full month name according to the current locale.

     %c  The preferred date and time representation for the current locale.

     %d  The day of the month as a decimal number (range 01 to 31).

     %H  The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 00 to 23).

     %I  The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 01 to 12).

     %j  The day of the year as a decimal number (range 001 to 366).

     %m  The month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12).

     %M  The minute as a decimal number (range 00 to 59).

     %p  Either `AM' or `PM' according to the given time value,  or  the  corre‐
         sponding  strings  for the current locale.  Noon is treated as `pm' and
         midnight as `am'.  Note that in many locales a `pm' notation is  unsup‐
         ported and in such cases %p will return an empty string.

     %s  The second as a decimal number (range 00 to 61).

     %S  The seconds since the epoch (1.1.1970) (libc dependent non standard!)

     %U  The   week   number  of  the current year as a decimal number, range 00
         to 53, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of week 01.  See
         also %V and %W.

     %V  The  ISO 8601:1988 week number of the current year as a decimal number,
         range 01 to  53,  where week  1 is the first week that has at  least  4
         days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week.
         See also %U and %W.

     %w  The  day  of  the week as a decimal, range 0 to 6, Sunday being 0.  See
         also %u.

     %W  The week number of the current year as a decimal number,  range  00  to
         53,  starting  with  the first Monday as the first day of week 01.

     %x  The  preferred  date  representation for the current locale without the
         time.

     %X  The preferred time representation for the current  locale  without  the
         date.

     %y  The year as a decimal number without a century (range 00 to 99).

     %Y  The year as a decimal number including the century.

     %Z  The time zone or name or abbreviation.

     %%  A literal `%' character.

     You can format values as duration using :valstrfduration with the value be‐
     ing  interpreted  as milliseconds.  Using printf like conversion specifica‐
     tions you can extract properties from the duration:

      - All non-conversion specification chars are copied unchanged
      - A conversion specification has format '%' [ ['0'] minwidth ] [ '.' precision ] conversion-specifier

     With conversion-specifier being one of:

     %   A raw '%' is output, width and precision are ignored

     W   Number of weeks

     d   Number of days, modulus number of weeks

     D   Number of days

     h   Number of hours, modulus number of days

     H   Number of hours

     m   Number of minutes, modulus number of hours

     M   Number of minutes

     s   Number of seconds, modulus number of minutes

     S   Number of seconds

     f   Number of milliseconds, modulus seconds

     PRINT:vname:CF:format

     Deprecated. Use the new form of this command in  new  scripts.   The  first
     form of this command is to be used with CDEF vnames.

   GRAPH
     GPRINT:vname:format

     This is the same as "PRINT", but printed inside the graph.

     GPRINT:vname:CF:format

     Deprecated.  Use  the new form of this command in new scripts.  This is the
     same as "PRINT", but printed inside the graph.

     COMMENT:text

     Text is printed literally in the legend section of the graph. Note that  in
     RRDtool  1.2  you have to escape colons in COMMENT text in the same way you
     have to escape them in *PRINT commands by writing '\:'.

     VRULE:time#color[:[leg‐
     end][:dashes[=on_s[,off_s[,on_s,off_s]...]][:dash-offset=offset]]]

     Draw a vertical line at time.  Its color is composed from three hexadecimal
     numbers specifying the rgb color components (00 is off, FF is maximum) red,
     green and blue followed by an optional alpha. Optionally, a legend box  and
     string is printed in the legend section. time may be a number or a variable
     from  a  VDEF.  It is an error to use vnames from DEF or CDEF here.  Dashed
     lines can be drawn using the dashes modifier. See LINE for more details.

     HRULE:value#color[:[leg‐
     end][:dashes[=on_s[,off_s[,on_s,off_s]...]][:dash-offset=offset]]]

     Draw a horizontal line at value.  HRULE acts much  like  LINE  except  that
     will  have  no  effect on the scale of the graph. If a HRULE is outside the
     graphing area it will just not be visible and it will  not  appear  in  the
     legend by default.

     LINE[width]:value[#color][:[legend][:STACK][:skip‐
     scale][:dashes[=on_s[,off_s[,on_s,off_s]...]][:dash-offset=offset]]]

     Draw  a line of the specified width onto the graph. width can be a floating
     point number. If the color is not specified, the drawing is  done  'invisi‐
     bly'. This is useful when stacking something else on top of this line. Also
     optional  is  the legend box and string which will be printed in the legend
     section if specified. The value can be generated by DEF,  VDEF,  and  CDEF.
     If  the optional STACK modifier is used, this line is stacked on top of the
     previous element which can be a LINE or an AREA.

     Normally the graphing function makes sure that the entire LINE or  AREA  is
     visible in the chart. The scaling of the chart will be modified accordingly
     if  necessary. Any LINE or AREA can be excluded from this process by adding
     the option skipscale.

     The dashes modifier enables dashed line style. Without any further  options
     a  symmetric  dashed  line with a segment length of 5 pixels will be drawn.
     The dash pattern can be changed if the dashes= parameter is followed by ei‐
     ther one value or an even number (1, 2, 4, 6, ...) of positive values. Each
     value provides the length of alternate  on_s  and  off_s  portions  of  the
     stroke.  The  dash-offset parameter specifies an offset into the pattern at
     which the stroke begins.

     When you do not specify a color, you cannot specify a legend.   Should  you
     want to use STACK, use the "LINEx:<value>::STACK" form.

     AREA:value[#color[#color2]][:[legend][:STACK][:skipscale][:gradheight=y]

     See LINE, however the area between the x-axis and the line will be filled.

     If color2 is specified, the area will be filled with a gradient.

     The  gradheight  parameter  can  create three different behaviors. If grad‐
     height > 0, then the gradient is a fixed height, starting at the line going
     down.  If gradheight < 0, then the gradient starts at a fixed height  above
     the  x-axis,  going  down to the x-axis.  If height == 0, then the gradient
     goes from the line to x-axis.

     The default value for gradheight is 50.

     TICK:vname#rrggbb[aa][:fraction[:legend]]

     Plot a tick mark (a vertical line) for each value of vname that is non-zero
     and not *UNKNOWN*. The fraction argument specifies the length of  the  tick
     mark  as  a  fraction  of  the y-axis; the default value is 0.1 (10% of the
     axis). Note that the color specification is not optional.  The  TICK  marks
     normally  start  at the lower edge of the graphing area. If the fraction is
     negative they start at the upper border of the graphing area.

     SHIFT:vname:offset

     Using this command RRDtool will graph the following elements with the spec‐
     ified   offset.    For   instance,   you   can   specify   an   offset   of
     ( 7*24*60*60 = ) 604'800 seconds to "look back" one week. Make sure to tell
     the  viewer of your graph you did this ...  As with the other graphing ele‐
     ments, you can specify a number or a variable here.

     TEXTALIGN:{left|right|justified|center}

     Labels are placed below the graph. When they overflow  to  the  left,  they
     wrap  to the next line. By default, lines are justified left and right. The
     TEXTALIGN function lets you change this default. This is a command and  not
     an  option,  so that you can change the default several times in your argu‐
     ment list.

     STACK:vname#color[:legend]

     Deprecated.  Use the STACK modifiers on the other commands instead!

     Some notes on stacking

     When stacking, an element is not placed above the X-axis but rather on  top
     of the previous element.  There must be something to stack upon.

     You can use an invisible LINE or AREA to stacked upon.

     An  unknown  value makes the entire stack unknown from that moment on.  You
     don't know where to begin (the unknown value) and  therefore  do  not  know
     where to end.

     If  you  want  to make sure you will be displaying a certain variable, make
     sure never to stack upon the unknown value.  Use a CDEF instruction with IF
     and UN to do so.

NOTES on legend arguments
   Escaping the colon
     A colon ':' in a legend argument will mark the end of the legend. To  enter
     a ':' as part of a legend, the colon must be escaped with a backslash '\:'.
     Beware  that many environments process backslashes themselves, so it may be
     necessary to write two backslashes  in  order  to  one  being  passed  onto
     rrd_graph.

   String Formatting
     The  text printed below the actual graph can be formatted by appending spe‐
     cial escape characters at the end of a text. Whenever such a character  oc‐
     curs,  all pending text is pushed onto the graph according to the character
     specified.

     Valid markers are: \j for justified, \l for  left  aligned,  \r  for  right
     aligned, and \c for centered. In the next section there is an example show‐
     ing how to use centered formatting.

     \n  is a valid alias for \l since incomplete parsing in earlier versions of
     RRDtool lead to this behavior and a number of people has been using it.

     Normally there are two space characters inserted between  every  two  items
     printed  into  the graph. The space following a string can be suppressed by
     putting a \g at the end of the string. The \g also ignores any space inside
     the string if it is at the very end of the string. This can be used in con‐
     nection with %s to suppress empty unit strings.

      GPRINT:a:MAX:%lf%s\g

     A special case is COMMENT:\s which inserts some additional  vertical  space
     before placing the next row of legends.

     If  you  want  to  have left and right aligned legends on the same line use
     COMMENT:\u to go one line back like this:

      COMMENT:left\l
      COMMENT:\u
      COMMENT:right\r

     There is also a 'nop' control for situations where you want a string to ac‐
     tually end in a backslash character sequence \.

      COMMENT:OS\2\.

     When using a proportional font in your graph, the tab characters or the se‐
     quence \t will line-up legend elements. Note that  the  tabs  inserted  are
     relative to the start of the current legend element!

     Since  RRDtool  1.3  is  using  Pango  for  rending text, you can use Pango
     markup.  Pango uses the xml span tags for inline formatting instructions.

     A simple example of a marked-up string might be:

      <span foreground="blue" size="x-large">Blue text</span> is <i>cool</i>!

     The complete list of attributes for the span tag (taken from the pango doc‐
     umentation):

     font_desc
         A font description string, such as "Sans  Italic  12";  note  that  any
         other  span  attributes  will override this description. So if you have
         "Sans Italic" and also a style="normal" attribute, you  will  get  Sans
         normal, not italic.

     font_family
         A font family name

     faceSynonym for font_family

     sizeFont  size  in  1024ths  of  a  point,  or  one  of  the absolute sizes
         'xx-small',   'x-small',   'small',   'medium',   'large',   'x-large',
         'xx-large',  or one of the relative sizes 'smaller' or 'larger'. If you
         want to specify an absolute size, it's usually easier to take advantage
         of the ability to specify a partial font description using 'font_desc';
         you can use font_desc='12.5' rather than size='12800'.

     style
         One of 'normal', 'oblique', 'italic'

     weight
         One of 'ultralight', 'light', 'normal', 'bold',  'ultrabold',  'heavy',
         or a numeric weight

     variant
         'normal' or 'smallcaps'

     stretch
         One   of  'ultracondensed',  'extracondensed',  'condensed',  'semicon‐
         densed', 'normal', 'semiexpanded', 'expanded', 'extraexpanded', 'ultra‐
         expanded'

     foreground
         An RGB color specification such as '#00FF00' or a color  name  such  as
         'red'

     background
         An  RGB  color  specification such as '#00FF00' or a color name such as
         'red'

     underline
         One of 'none', 'single', 'double', 'low', 'error'

     underline_color
         The color of underlines; an RGB color specification such  as  '#00FF00'
         or a color name such as 'red'

     riseVertical  displacement,  in 10000ths of an em. Can be negative for sub‐
         script, positive for superscript.

     strikethrough
         'true' or 'false' whether to strike through the text

     strikethrough_color
         The color of crossed out lines; an  RGB  color  specification  such  as
         '#00FF00' or a color name such as 'red'

     fallback
         'true' or 'false' whether to enable fallback. If disabled, then charac‐
         ters will only be used from the closest matching font on the system. No
         fallback  will  be done to other fonts on the system that might contain
         the characters in the text. Fallback is enabled by default. Most appli‐
         cations should not disable fallback.

     langA language code, indicating the text language

     letter_spacing
         Inter-letter spacing in 1024ths of a point.

     gravity
         One of 'south', 'east', 'north', 'west', 'auto'.

     gravity_hint
         One of 'natural', 'strong', 'line'.

     To save you some typing, there are also some shortcuts:

     b   Bold

     big Makes font relatively larger, equivalent to <span size="larger">

     i   Italic

     s   Strike through

     sub Subscript

     sup Superscript

     small
         Makes font relatively smaller, equivalent to <span size="smaller">

     tt  Monospace font

     u   Underline

SEE ALSO
     rrdgraph gives an overview of how rrdtool graph works.   rrdgraph_data  de‐
     scribes  DEF,CDEF  and VDEF in detail.  rrdgraph_rpn describes the RPN lan‐
     guage used in the ?DEF statements.  rrdgraph_graph page  describes  all  of
     the graph and print functions.

     Make sure to read rrdgraph_examples for tips&tricks.

AUTHOR
     Program by Tobias Oetiker <tobi@oetiker.ch>

     This  manual  page  by  Alex van den Bogaerdt <alex@vandenbogaerdt.nl> with
     corrections and/or additions by several people

1.11.0                             2026-08-08                  RRDGRAPH_GRAPH(1)
